Psychiatry and Writing by Olga Núñez Miret

First of all, thanks, Marie Lavender, for
offering me the opportunity of contributing to your great blog. As an author, I
know well there’s a lot to learn and it is good to find a place where people
come to share their knowledge and experiences thus helping us improve our
skills.

Let me introduce myself. I’m originally
from Barcelona (Spain), but I moved to the UK for work reasons many years back.
I’m a doctor, a psychiatrist to be more precise, and I have worked as a forensic
psychiatrist until very recently. I’ve always loved books and stories and I
started writing when I was quite young. I remember how I would exchange stories
with my primary school friends and how we used to enjoy the experience.
Studying Medicine and then becoming a psychiatrist left me little time although
I continued to read and write as much as I could. I also studied a BA in
American Literature and a PhD on the same subject (I wrote about ‘The Films of
David Mamet’) and more recently completed a Masters in Criminology. When I
decided to take a break from studying, I felt it was time to go back to writing
and my books. Thanks to self-publishing, I’ve published now a number of works,
including novels, novellas and a collection of three stories called ‘Escaping
Psychiatry’. I published both in English and Spanish, and in different genres
(I’ll leave you some links at the end).

When we were discussing this post, Marie
suggested that people might be interested in knowing how my experience and
knowledge as a psychiatrist has helped my writing. Her question made me think.
Of course I’ve been writing for a long time, well before I became a
psychiatrist. But it is true that although I love stories and plots, I’ve
always been interested in characters. I can’t say I’m big when it comes to
descriptions (of settings, people…), but I find that being detailed in the
psychology and motives of the characters makes the books more interesting and
easier to connect with. I can appreciate the beauty of a paragraph and a great
description, but for me stories are mostly about the people who make them
happen, or who come through at the other end. We’re humans and we feel empathy
with others; we’re intrigued, fascinated, attracted or disgusted by them.
Because of that, if we can make our characters believable, readers will happily
come with us in our journey.

Psychiatry studies disorders of the
mind, although of course we also spend time studying different psychological
approaches and theories (and I recall using psychoanalytical theory to analyze
literary texts during my degree). We all know many people (1 in 4) suffer from
mental illnesses during their lifetime. Even if nobody in a book is mentally
ill, in many cases mental illnesses are extreme manifestations of states of
mind or behaviors (or personality traits) that many of us have (or we can
identify easily in those around us). We might not have been clinically
depressed, but most of us will know people who have, and will have experienced
low moods. We might not suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, but we all have
our quirks and peculiarities. We have read about people with antisocial
personality disorder and have at times wondered if somebody is paranoid or
suffers from psychosis.

In psychiatry I learned how to listen
and also how to ask questions (I will always remember with affection the
Maudsley orange booklet containing different versions of many questions to try
and ascertain somebody’s mental state), and I have the experience of listening
to many people’s personal stories. Although I would not use those in my stories
(it would be unethical), the words used, the expressions, the emphasis, the
feelings, inform my writing and I hope make it more “real”.

The latest book I have published, Escaping Psychiatry, is a collection of three novellas. It has as a main character
a psychiatrist who is also a writer. She wants to dedicate herself full time to
writing, but circumstances keep dragging her back to using her professional
skills. I wrote the first story, ‘Cannon Fodder’, years back, but due to its
length I was advised to try and write a few more stories with the same main
characters and publish them together. This took a bit of time but now
‘Teamwork’ and ‘Memory’ complete the trio of stories. I wanted to share a
fragment of ‘Cannon Fodder’ where Mary interviews Cain White, the young
African-American man who has been accused of inciting others to riot due to his
comments about God and race. She is trying to ascertain if he might be
suffering from a mental illness. As it often happens, she gets a bit more than
she bargained for...

Sample
(from ‘Cannon Fodder’ in Escaping
Psychiatry)

After
some general questions about his job and family, and medical illnesses, she
asked him about his sleep, appetite, and mood…

“I’m
fine. I sleep like a log, I have a good appetite, and I feel on top of the
world.”

“But not
‘the top of the world’.”

“Oh, no,
no. I’m only me, Cain White, a fairly normal boy.”

“Do you
think fairly normal boys say they can hear God?”

“I don’t
know any who say that, but that’s probably because they can’t hear him. But I
do.”

“Do you
hear his voice as you hear me? Is it a voice outside your head?”

“It’s
difficult to explain. It isn’t a voice like anything I’ve ever heard before. It
isn’t a man or a woman, it’s God.”

“How do
you know?”

“Because
the voice says so. And I believe it.”

“Does it
talk to you or does it talk about you or others?”

“It talks
to me.”

“Does it
call your name?”

“Yes…It
says something like: “Cain, listen. There’s something I want you to tell the
others. Tell them they must love themselves. Tell them they are beautiful.””

“Who are
the others?”

“Black
people.”

“You mean
God is talking to the black people through you.”

“I mean
God is black.”

Mary had
to bite her lip not to smile. Cain wouldn’t stand a chance if the judge were
white and conservative.

“You
don’t believe me.”

Mary
looked at him straight in the eyes.

“I’m not
trying to determine if God is black or white or any other colour. “

“You only
want to know if I am mad. I guess I must be a raving lunatic to say things like
that to a white psychiatrist.”

“Do you
think black psychiatrists have different criteria for diagnosing madness?”

“Probably
not.”

“This
voice, is it inside your head or outside?”

“Outside.
I’m not imagining it.”

“I didn’t
say you were. Do you hear it at any particular time of the day or in a
particular place?”

“No. It
comes to me any time, any place.”

“When was
the first time you heard that voice?”

“I heard
it once as a child, just after my father died, telling me that I should look
after my mother and siblings. And then, a few months ago. First I thought I was
tired and I was hallucinating. But I had to accept it. It was God.”

“Are you
taking drugs?”

“I don’t
touch the stuff. I’m not off my head or anything like that,” he said in a brisk
manner.

“I must
ask these type of questions.”

“OK.”

They sat
in a bench opposite a cubist painting by Picasso.

“I’m sure
a few people thought he was mad,” Cain said pointing at the painting.

“Probably.
Cain…This voice is never threatening or nasty…”

“No. God
couldn’t be threatening or nasty.”

“Can you
control the voice? Can you make it shut up?”

“Why
should I want it to shut up? At the beginning I tried to make it go away but
the only thing that worked…”

“The only
thing that worked…”

He
blushed. The people (white) who say that blacks don’t blush should have seen
Cain.

“…was
thinking bad things. “

“Like?”

“Like…”

They
walked past a nude painting. He averted his gaze.

“Sex?”
She suggested.

“Yes. He
doesn’t like that.”

“Are you
saying that sex is bad?”

“God
doesn’t like that type of thoughts.”

He seemed
very embarrassed and she decided to let him off for the moment.

“Have you
ever thought that you could read other people’s minds, or that other people
could control you or could put thoughts into your mind?”

“Sometimes
God tells me what other people are thinking.”

“Has he
told you about me?”

“He’s
very quiet at the moment.”

She
couldn’t avoid the smile this time.

“You
don’t take me seriously. I’m not a joke.”

“Sorry.
It wasn’t what you said, but the way you said it. You’re very honest. It isn’t
common to find somebody who says what he thinks.”

“I do.”

Cain
didn’t have any other symptoms of mental illness. Apart from God’s voice there
were no other indications of psychosis, and his mood was even.

“Have you
ever thought of suicide?”

“Suicide
is sin…Only once, when my father died. I thought about jumping of a bridge. I
went there. Then I heard God’s voice telling me to look after my mother and…”

“Couldn’t
it have been you father’s voice?”

Cain
smiled.

“I
thought so at the time. But now I know better. It was God.”

“Did you
think you would become famous when you first talked about hearing God?”

“I only
talked about it because God told me to do so.”

“What
does your mum think?”

“She
knows I am not a liar. She trusts me.”

“And your
brother and sisters?”

“They believe
what I say.”

“Do you
think you have been elected by God?”

“I only
know he’s talking to me. I’m his instrument. I must do as He tells me.”

“Some
people are saying that you can cure illnesses by touching someone.”

“I’ve
heard that. I don’t know. I only know that if God wants me to heal somebody by
touching he will make me able to do so.”

Links

Here I leave you some links to the above
book and to some sites where you can find more information about me.

Thanks to Marie for offering me this
opportunity, to you for reading, and if you have any psychiatry-related questions,
don’t hesitate and get in touch.

-Olga

Guest Blogger Bio

Olga Núñez Miret is from Barcelona but has lived in the UK for over 20 years. She
is a doctor and until recently. Her day job was as a Forensic
Psychiatrist (not exactly like the profilers in the movies, or anything
to do with CSI either), although she's decided to try and dedicate more
time to her own books and to translating other writers' books
(English/Spanish, Spanish/English). She has also completed a degree in
American Literature at the University of Sussex (including a year abroad
at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts) and a a PhD on the Films of
David Mamet. She was also teaching assistant whilst completing the PhD,
mostly on Film courses.Always a learner, she has recently finished a
Distance Learning MSc on Criminology and Criminal Justice at the
University of Leicester.Olga has loved reading and writing since she
was a child. Her father always says that even before she could read
she'd always ask what any signs or writing meant. She has written a
variety of things over the years: short stories (some now disappeared),
novels, novellas and plays, in English, Spanish and Catalan. Some have
been edited into the trash bin, but a few are still available and
sitting quietly waiting for their moment in the sun. (Or an e-reader,
most likely). Due to the many distractions (studies and jobs), she has
never fully dedicated herself to the business of writing, but after a
minor health scare she decided that there is no time like now. Carpe
diem!Her main love is fiction; she has written in a variety of
genres (crime, family saga, para-normal, science-fiction...) and she is
currently working on a series for young adults.Apart from reading
and writing, she loves the cinema, the theater (modern, classic,
musicals...), fitness classes (and more recently also yoga), walking,
crochet, and owls.Her main aim is not to be boring and to entertain.The
first of her books to be published as e-book (October 2012) is 'The Man
Who Wasn't There', also available in Spanish version: 'El hombre que
nunca existió'.In December 2012 she published 3 novellas in the
series 'Escaping Psychiatry'. 'Cannon Fodder' (Escaping Psychiatry Part
1), 'Teamwork' (Escaping Psychiatry Part 2), and 'Memory' (Escaping
Psychiatry Part 3). The author has used her experience and insights in
these three works of fiction that follow Mary, psychiatrist and writer,
and her adventures.In February 2013 she published a Young Adult
novella in English (Twin Evils?) and Spanish(Gemela Maldad). This story
talks about sibling rivalry taken to extremes, friendship, romance and
has a touch of the paranormal.In June 2013 she published her first
foray in romantic fiction: 'Click Me Happy!' a novella where readers can
choose between three endings, an unhappy, a neutral and an unhappy one.
In October 2013 'Click Me Happy!' became also available in paperback
format.In January, she published the three novellas in the series
Escaping Psychiatry in a single book with an epilogue that promises more
adventures.She is working on a series of YA novels, another
romance, further adventures on the series Escaping Psychiatry and...many
other things.

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